


Soft Touch

by MapleLantern



Category: 14th Century CE RPF, Richard II - Shakespeare
Genre: Gen, Just Add Kittens, M/M, Modern AU, Ned has no willpower, tiny kittens
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-05
Updated: 2021-01-05
Packaged: 2021-03-15 17:36:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28567836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MapleLantern/pseuds/MapleLantern
Summary: Trapped in lockdown, Richard hasn't seen as much as he would have liked of his boyfriend, who has been spending most of his time helping out at the animal shelter...
Relationships: Edward 2nd Duke of York | Duke of Aumerle/Richard II of England
Comments: 4
Kudos: 9
Collections: Histories Ficathon XI





	Soft Touch

**Author's Note:**

  * For [rimerle](https://archiveofourown.org/users/rimerle/gifts).



Listening to Ned thump around the bedroom in search of clothes, Richard burrowed deeper into the bedsheets with a grumble. It was barely light out, and Sunday to boot, but this was Ned - rising at the crack of dawn was wired as strongly into his being as it had been the earliest humans on earth - and Richard vaguely remembered him saying something about the animal shelter needing all hands on deck this morning. 

The year that it was there had been a surge in pet adoption and with it the inevitable influx of now homeless pets - and Ned had been sucked into spending all his free hours volunteering to help with the sudden intake. As Richard understood, it was a windfall to have a volunteer who had a wealth of experience with not only dogs and cats, but who was willing and knew their stuff around bigger animals like horses. 

There was a muffled curse before the unmistakable sound of a waterproof jacket, and Richard flung out an arm towards the sound, grabbed and yanked. 

“What-”

Ned was cut off by Richard planting a kiss to his mouth.

“Goodbye.” Richard said, pulling away before diving back under the blankets.  
  
There was a chuckle, followed by the sounds of Ned trundling downstairs to make himself some tea and the shutting of the front door, as Richard drifted back to sleep. 

*

Richard was considering throwing his thesis out of the window after a day fraught with too much coffee, the frustrations of strictly online resources, and the inability of any dead saint to keep their bones wholly together in one set, when he heard Ned’s car outside. He made a sound of irritation, suddenly noticing how late the clock claimed it was and wondering if there was anything he could fling in the microwave for dinner-  
  
“Richard…?” 

Richard relaxed as he realised that he wasn’t about to get grumbled at for having lost track of time. He pushed his glasses up onto his head and climbed out of his chair, putting on an appropriately long-suffering face before padding towards the hallway, purring:

“What have you done?”

Ned was standing in the hallway, looking duly guilty yet unrepentant, with a large cat carrier in his hands that Richard eyed warily - cat carrier, strictly speaking, did not mean cats when Ned came slinking home in this attitude. Spotting him, Ned immediately launched into his defense.  
  
“They’re entirely out of room,” He began, setting the box down. “We can’t put any more of them in as roommates, especially not if they’re going to be unattended overnight. All of our fosters are occupied, and it just isn’t fair to ask anyone to take on so many on such short notice. I thought of trying Dad and Joan, but they’re off in the Peak District until Thursday, and someone had to take them-”

Richard couldn’t help it - he smiled and swooped in to give Ned a kiss, the same as the one this morning, cupping Ned’s face in his hands and making sure he was kissed firmly and thoroughly before letting him go again.  
  
“You’re a soft touch, Edward Langley,” He muttered, kissing his boyfriend on the nose. “When Attenborough goes, you had better apply for the job.”  
  
Ned gave him a hopeful look.  
  
“Does this mean I’m forgiven?” He ventured, resting a hand on Richard’s waist.  
  
“That depends,” RIchard narrowed his eyes. “What’s in the box? I’m not having a repeat of the bugs-”  
  
“Stick insects are gentle-”  
  
“They’re huge and eldritch looking!” Richard shivered. “And they have those little… grippy hands! Mathe didn’t like them!”  
  
Hearing his name, Mathe raised his long head from where he had been watching the commotion from his bed. He had quite liked the stick insects, but was disappointed when he hadn’t been allowed to play with them. Stretching, he trotted over to nose at the carrier and immediately began to wag his tail.  
  
Ned snorted, moving Richard back a little so that he could crouch down to the box and nudge Mathe aside.  
  
“I promise, you’ll like them.” He said, straightening up. “See?”

Richard made an undignified noise, which was echoed by the pearl white kitten sitting in Ned’s hands as it was faced with a human that looked more like a gazelle than anything else. 

Mathe whined and stood on his hind legs, only adding to the strange picture he and his master presented by resting his front paws on Richard’s shoulder, and reaching out to gently lick the little white head. The kitten made another sound that resembled blocked plumbing and swatted at him, but this only encouraged him to keep licking.  
  
*

Considering that all six kittens needed feeding every three hours, Ned was impressed with how Richard’s attention span was lasting - especially considering that, even though Ned had taken most of the night-shift, he had been woken very early by the piteous kitten wails. Sitting in their pajamas in the living room, two of the six currently eating their milk, the sun was barely starting to peer through the windows.

“He’s getting it everywhere,” Richard cooed, adjusting the grey and white kitten he was holding even as it made a lunge for the milk filled syringe. “Messy baby!”

Ned smiled, saying nothing about how every kitten Richard had fed so far had managed to make a mess. The one in his lap, all black except for a white tip at the end of her tail, was eating her meal a little more sedately. 

“They’ll be able to move onto more solid food soon,” he said, stroking his kitten on her head with a free finger.

“Where did they come from?”  
  
“I don’t know, Hotspur just threw the carrier at me and asked if I would look after them-”

“You said you were strong-armed.”  
  
“Kate just threw the carrier at me-” 

Richard laughed, his kitten making a loud mewling of displeasure as he was jostled into spilling more milk before hastily licking it up.

“I don’t know who is worse,” Richard chuckled, “You or Mathe.”

On hearing his name, their borzoi looked up with the most desperate look Ned had ever seen. He was fussing at the carrier, where the remaining kittens were mewing their fury at not being fed first, licking at the little paws that poked through the gate to swipe at him. 

Once they were a bit more settled, and Richard and Ned a bit more sorted with supplies, Ned was planning to let the kittens out to meet Mathe proper, but for now they were regarding him as an odd, gentle giant that kept peering into their carrier and making worried crooning noises.  
  
“Mathe,” Ned said, purely in self defense. “Definitely Mathe.”  
  
Richard gave him a fond look and murmured ‘yes dear’, before turning to his furious but fat kitten to explain that the milk was now all gone. 

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you like it, darling!


End file.
